The Theatre Department at Indiana University Southeast will present HAMLET by William Shakespeare in the Robinson Theater of the Paul W. Ogle Cultural and Community Center on the IU Southeast campus, 4201 Grant Line Road in New Albany. Performance dates and times are Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9 at 8:00pm, Sunday, March 10 at 2:30pm, Thursday, March 14 through Saturday, March 16 at 8:00pm, and Sunday, March 17 at 2:30pm. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for students, seniors, IU Southeast faculty & staff, and are available at the Ogle Center ticket office or by calling (812) 941-2525.

The production is directed by Daniel R. Hill, Adjunct Lecturer in Theatre at IU Southeast, with scene and lighting design by Michael F. Hottois. Costume design is by Natalie Bowman. Guest artist, Gerry Rose of Savage Rose Theatre and the Frazier History is the Fight Choreography and also plays the role of Claudius.

"I fell in love with this play about 12 years ago. As a student of theatre, I had always heard that the greatest actors played the title role of Hamlet," said Daniel R. Hill, who is directing the play. "Initially, that is what sparked my interest. However, what sparked my love for the play, HAMLET was the story, the themes, and ALL of the characters."

When preparing to direct this production of HAMLET, Hill - himself no stranger to the works of Shakespeare as both an actor and director - posed several questions to himself: "How do you take one of the greatest plays ever written, one of the most iconic plays in the history of theatre, one of the most popular produced plays of all time, and give it new life? What is it about a play that is over 400 years old that still resonates with the human spirit today? Why HAMLET? Why Now?"

"Shakespeare wrote stories that resonated with everyone; they are all-inclusive," Hill concluded. "These plays show high class, low class, good, bad, love, deception, and human concerns. Themes of greed, lust, betrayal, and self-indulgence surround us in many forms every day in modern day America."

"In knowing that plays like HAMLET still connect on an intellectual level, how do we visually and emotionally connect to a modern day audience in a way that opens their minds to what is happening in our society in 2013? This led me to a notion: We hear every day in America that our future is Technology. But, what if it wasn’t? What if our future wasn’t technology?"

This ultimately led Hill to decide to set Shakespeare's classic play in a post-technological world — an era in our future that could be a possibility. This world is one where all possible ways of creating electricity have been eradicated and the humans of this world have developed a way to live without technology, but are always mindful of all that they once had. It is in this world that we will see the story of HAMLET unfold – a story of a family dealing with loss, greed, deception, indecision, and murder.

HAMLET is the final production of the IU Southeast Theatre Department's 2012-2013 season.

CAST

HAMLET, Prince of Denmark: MITCH DONAHUE

CLAUDIUS, King of Denmark, brother of the late king: GERRY ROSE

GERTRUDE, Queen of Denmark, mother of Hamlet: ROSELLA PEARL

POLONIUS, King Claudius' counselor: GABRIEL VANOVER

LAERTES, Son of Polonius: DAVID BEACH

OPHELIA, Daughter of Polonius: ELIZA DONAHUE

GHOST OF HAMLET'S FATHER: JESSE BROWN

HORATIO, friend of Hamlet and fellow student: JONATHAN VOSS

ROSENCRANTZ, childhood friend of Hamlet: DeANNA COLLINS

GUILDENSTERN, childhood friend of Hamlet: RYAN BAKER

MARCELLUS, head sentinel of Elsinor: ERWIN JACOB

BERNARDO/OSRICK: SPENCER KORCZ

FRANCISCO: SHELBY ORANGE

PLAYER HAMLET (Lucianus): DHANE HARRISON

GRAVEDIGGER 1: TIMOTHY STUCKY

GRAVEDIGGER 2: BETH HAMMOND

UNDERSTUDY: CODY KING

Parking: Free parking is available only in the Dogwood Lot directly in front of the Ogle Center from one hour before the performance until one hour after the conclusion of the performance. Vehicles parked in lots other than the Dogwood Lot without a permit will be ticketed.

For more information on this production, future productions, academic programs and scholarships offered by the IU Southeast Theatre Department, please call (812) 941-2655 or visit www.ius.edu/theatre.